of 833 miles per hour. show this humanly possible? and we're down to one defeated team in the nfl after aaron rodgers goes off against texas, which is the best team right now? it's "way too early" for this. good morning. i'm willie geist, this is "way too early". i'm glad you are up with us this morning watching on msnbc or listening live on sirius xm radio. you can e-mail us or tweet me. let us know what you're doing up at this hour, or text the word awake followed by your response to 622639. we'll read the best responses later in the show. the next 30 minutes will be your cram session for this monday, october 15th. a lot to get you caught up on

today including an update on the status of that 14-year-old pakistani girl targeted and shot on her school bus by the taliban. the latest on her condition and the reaction from pakistan. and snl has joe biden smiling ever so toothily and smiling throughout the debate that clip later on in the show. first the news live at 5:30 a.m. we begin with the race for the white house and a critical week ahead as the candidates get together for two more debates within the span of a week. a new politico george washington poll released moments ago shows president obama clinging to a one-point lead nationwide among likely voters. that means within the margin of error this race is tied. an average of ten battleground states, same politico poll, shows mitt romney up 50% to 48, a statistical tie.

personal popularity has long been one of the president's strengths. the same poll shows romney scoring higher marks. the two men now essentially tied on that question of likability. a new poll of likely voters from the "washington post" and abc news puts the race within the margin of error with president obama at 49%, and mitt romney at 46%. today the pressure is on the president to rebound in tomorrow night's contest at new york's hofstra university on long island. hoping to slow the momentum of mitt romney. the "wall street journal" says some obama aides think obama is rusty with the format from going nine months without a town hall style debate. with absentee or early in-person voting underway in 43 states in this country, both campaigns out with new ads. team romney says the economy is

no laughing matter. pointing back to the vice presidential debate of last week. >> we can't keep spending and borrowing like this we can't keep spending money we don't have. they come in and inherit a tough situation? absolutely. but we're going in the wrong direction. look at where we are. the economy is barely limping along. don't raise taxes on small businesses because they're our job creators. leaders run to problems to fix problems. mitt romney is uniquely qualified to fix these problems. >> i'm mitt romney, approve this message. the obama campaign this weekend turned to academy award winning actor with some of the best types in the business to deliver their message. >> the president inherits challenges. few have faced so many. four years later, our enemies have been brought to justice. our heroes are coming home.

assembly lines are humming again. there are still challenges to meet, children to educate, a middle class to rebuild, but the last thing we should do is turn back now. >> i'm barack obama, and i approve this message. yes, that was morgan freeman. the obama camp is also bringing in more star power, former president clinton and bruce springsteen will team up for a rally in ohio. the boss also expected to stump for the president in iowa. republicans are hammering the obama's handling of the deadly attack of the u.s. consulate in libya. lindsey graham suggested the administration deliberately covered up details. they're trying to sell a narrative that the mideast, the wars are receding and al qaeda has been dismantled, and to admit our embassy was attacked by al qaeda operatives and libya

did not work undercuts that narrative. they didn't believe media would investigate, congress was out of session and this caught up with them. there was no way with anybody looking at all that you could believe five days after the attack that it was based on a riot that never occurred. there was no riot at all. to say that, you are either incompetent or misleading. democrats are dismissing these as politically moetivated allegations. the 14-year-old girl shot last week by the taliban for promoting girls education is now heading to britton for specialized treatment. malala yousufzai was reportedly flown out of the country today in an air ambulance provided by the united arab emirates. it comes six days after she was attacked in pakistan by a gunman while riding home in a school van last tuesday. she was specifically targeted

for her criticism of the taliban. over the weekend, tens of thousands of people rallied in support of the young activist. her condition has been stabilized but doctors say she will require intense therapy. last night, over 100 taliban militants attacked a police station where at least six policemen were kill. arlen specter died yesterday at his philadelphia home from complications of cancer it was just two years ago that his long career in washington came to an end. an independent, sometimes controversial figure, specter battled gridlock in the senate for 30 years as a member of both parties. nbc's kelly o'donnell looks back on his life. >> reporter: from his days as a scrappy philadelphia prosecutor to decades as that rare washington moderate, arlen specter was always influential and irascible. >> i've been viewed with what i

think has accurately been characterized as independence. >> reporter: a fighter admired for how he kept going. >> i beat a brain tumor. i beat bypass surgery a few years back. i beat a lot of tough political opponents. >> reporter: swept into congress under ronald reagan in 1980, specter's views supporting abortion rights, immigration reform and gun control made him too liberal for the tea party movement. >> i just don't believe you. >> reporter: under assault he bolt to the democratic party. >> my change in party will enable me to be re-elected. >> reporter: but specter lost. >> been a great privilege to serve the people of pennsylvania. >> reporter: he knew controversy well. at the warren commission, he wrote the single bullet theory, that explained how lee oswald, acting alone assassinated president kennedy.

in 1991, spekcter angered many women over the spectacle over anita hill. >> the testimony of professor hill in the morning was flat-out perjury. >> reporter: but specter is also remembered for his whit and devotion to the senate. >> i leave with great optimism for the future of our country and great optimism for the continuing vital role of the united states senate and the governance of our democracy. >> reporter: arlen specter was 82. president obama released a statement honoring the late senator for "never putting party or ideology ahead of the people he was chosen to serve." still ahead this morning on "way too early," an umpire admits he made a terrible call in the yankee game last night. but that umpire is not the one swinging the bats for the suddenly hapless bombers. and the day in the nfl all ahead in sports.

and the man who free fell from outer space for nearly 120,000 feet and broke the sound barrier before deploying that chute and falling safely to earth. his incredible story, and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. ♪ >> a balloon, shaped like a flying saucer drifting high over the skies of colorado at the mercy of the wind. >> this thing is motoring along. >> disrupting the airspace was bad enough, but authorities were told on board that contraption was a 6-year-old boy.

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we're not in london, are we? no. why? apparently my debit card is. what? i know. don't worry, we have cancelled your old card. great. thank you. in addition to us monitoring your accounts for unusual activity, you could also set up free account alerts. okay. [ female announcer ] at wells fargo we're working around the clock to help protect your money and financial information. here's your temporary card. welcome back. how was london? [ female announcer ] wells fargo. together we'll go far. who emailed it to emily, who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasn't quite the same. the recipe's not the recipe... ohhh. [ female announcer ] ...without swanson.

the broth cooks trust most when making soup. mmmm! [ female announcer ] the secret is swanson. [ male announcer ] how do you make 70,000 trades a second... ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. oh, boy. that is yankees stadium. a live picture. the lights are still on. fans still seated there waiting for somebody to get a hit in a big situation. 5:42 in the morning.

live picture of new york city. let's get a check of weather from bill karins. >> at least they have verlander next. >> we're fine. great shape. >> leave the bats in new york. >> the reigning mvp at home. that will be great. >> stormy weekend especially in the middle of the country. if you were watching those college football games on saturday, many of them were washouts. that rain continued yesterday in the great lakes. this morning those showers and storms are near atlanta. one thunderstorm near peachtree city. so some hit and miss showers hitting the eastern seaboard. if it rains in your hour, it will only last about an hour. those storms just rolled through pittsburgh. it will not be all day, just a half hour to an hour during the middle to end of the afternoon. then it will sweep out and be gone by tonight. middle of the country looks gorgeous today. not a lot of cold air behind the

storm unlike last week. temperatures soaring in the 80s in texas. 70s in kansas city. not bad in minneapolis, 63. as i mentioned, tomorrow all the wet weather is completely gone. it looks like much of the country will have a nice tuesday. no real big storms this week. this weekend was bad enough. >> wild weather out there. you're right, watching college football it seems like every game on tv was pouring. the fractured ankle derek jeter sustained in game one on friday will likely require the 38-year-old shortstop to undergo surgery according to a league source. jeter will visit a foot and ankle specialist and will be on the shelf for lee months. less than 24 hours after losing jeter and dropping a 12-inning heart breaker. the yankees back at it in the bronx for game two against the tigers. two outs. top of the eighth. tigers up 1-0.

hide hideki korada still in the game. swisher catches omar infante, out by two feet let's call it? the umpire calls him safe. the replay shows the tag was on him. joe girardi upset with the call. he goes back to the dugout. now two on, two out, now girardi really hot. during a pitching change, he gets into it with the ump. the yankees in trouble. as bill karins said, they still have not faced jason verlander. not looking good for the yankees. cardinals and jgiants in sa francisco. cardinals up 1-0. carlos beltran does it again,

two-run home run. cardinals win 6-4. they were up 6-0. game two in san francisco tonight at 8:00. now football, texans putting their undefeated record on the line last night against the packers. jump ahead to the fourth quarter. packers up 21-10. aaron rodgers threads the needle to nelson, making it 28-10. third touchdown catch of the game for nelson. rodgers again, this time to james jones. will reel it in with a beautiful one-handed catch. that makes it 42-17. rodgers ties a franchise record with six touchdown passes in the game. packers roll 42-24 handing the texans their first loss of the season. the falcons at home trying to keep that streak alive against the raiders. fourth quarter, tied at 13. under three to play. carson palmer, that was on third down, picked off by asante

samuel, runs it back for the touchdown. oakland would come back to tie it, but with time expiring, after matt ryan got them, 5 yards out. the game-winning field goal. atlanta undefeated, the only team at 6-0. 49ers hosting the giants. third quarter, giants up two touchdowns. rolle steps in front of alex smith's pass. tips it to himself for the pick. goes to the 12-yard line. giants add a field goal to go up 21-3. the new york defense harassing smith. giants win big, 26-3 on the road nonetheless. niners and giants both 4-2. jets looking to stop their two-game slide against the colts. two minutes to go. jets in punt formation, but they snap it to tebow. tebow with the 23-yard gain. that leads to a mark sanchez touchdown pass. fourth quarter, jets up 19.

not taking a knee. shonn green plows his way in for the third touchdown of the game. jets win 35-9. they are 3-3. redskins hosting the surprising 4-1 vikings. robert griffin iii making the start after that ugly concussion last week. rg3 showing no ill effect. redskins up by five. watch this run. the rookie can't find anybody to throw to on third and six. bounces outside and says i'm gone. 76 yards for the touchdown. puts the g-game away. redskins improve to 3-3 this season. cowboys and ravens. cowboys down eight. tony romo capping an 80-yard drive with a throw to dez bryant. dan bailey executes this perfectly and the cowboys get it

back. the cowboys can win with a field goal. bailey lines up with the attempt. six seconds left. but he pulls it left. after all that, the ravens hang on to win 30-29. the ravens, 5-1. cowboys fall to 2-3. in college football, last night we got the first bcs standings. no prize at the top, alabama number one with florida jumping up to number two. voters apparently impressed. the computers impressed with their win over vanderbilt. both teams are 6-0. oregon number three, k-state number four, and notre dame number five. coming up on "morning joe," debate night on long island tomorrow as the president hopes to rebound from a sleepy first performance on stage with mitt romney. we have new numbers, about three weeks away from election day. and when we come back here, how about a sky dive from 128,000 feet in the air.

we'll watch an austrian daredevil plummet from the edge of space when "way too early" comes right back. i'm done! "are you a cool mom?" i'm gonna find out. [ female announcer ] swiffer wetjet's pads are better than ever. now they have the scrubbing power of mr. clean magic eraser so you don't have to get down on your hands and knees to scrub away tough, dried-on stains. hey, do you guys think i'm "momtacular" or "momtrocious"? ♪ [ female announcer ] swiffer. now with the scrubbing power of mr. clean magic eraser.

>> i wish you can see what i can see. sometimes you have to be up really high to see how small you are. i'm going home now. >> wow. that is the view from outer space. my goodness, before a human being took a plunge from 24 miles up. supersonic freefall. an austrian daredevil jumping from space becoming the first person to break the sound barrier using only his body. felix baumgarer made the jump from 128,000 feet, 120,000 of which were in a free fall that lasted four minutes and 20 seconds. he reached the speed of 833.9 miles per hour or mach 1.24.

baumgartner even stuck the landing. he says he now plans to retire. if you want to sound smart, tell your friends when baumgartner started his flung back plunge b earth, he was 82,000 feet above the flight of the average boeing 747, and more than four times higher than mt. everest. baumgartner didn't deploy his parachute until he had fallen about 123,000 feet. let's huddle up around the water cooler to watch snl's take on the vice presidential debate. >> i want to thank center college for hosting us this evening. >> oh, boy, here we go. >> four years ago, president obama made a promise -- [ laughter ] >> that he would bring down unemployment below 6%. >> this guy. i'm sorry, martha. martha, with all due respect, this is a bunch of mularkey.

>> what does that mean? >> it's irish. >> no, irish is i come over there and smack that dumb look off your face. >> mr. vice president, i know you're under a lot of duress to make up for lost ground. but i think the people would be better served if we didn't keep interrupting each other. >> you don't scare me, shark eyes. [ laughter ] >> mr. vice president -- >> get behind there. hey, you think you're tougher than me? what, because you do the p90x workout? what, because you're younger than me? let me tell you something, buddy. there's gym strong then there's old man strong, okay? you want to know my workout? when the amtrak breaks down on my morning commute, i strip down to my tightie-whities, i push it all the way to washington. >> oh, my gosh. steven colbert yesterday on "meet the press" briefly stepping out of character with david gregory.

>> does the outcome of this presidential election change anything significantly? >> sure. sure. i'm not ralph nader. you know what i mean? i don't think there's no difference. there is a difference. i don't know what the difference is, though. because i think -- i think there is a possibility that obama would be, say, more aggressive -- a more aggressive or reformer in the second act of his presidency. and i don't really know how -- i also don't know how mitt romney would govern. he might govern as a technocrat. like the guy from pepsi who comes in to run gm. he can't tell us what he'll do because he hasn't seen the books yet. we don't know, because he seems absolutely sincere as a moderate and pretty sincere as a severe conservative. so that's not a dig. it's honest confusion. he's got a good shot of winning. if he does, i hope he's a good president. if obama wins, i hope he keeps some of the promises he didn't

keep the first time. but i have no idea how it changes for us. by but i knows there got to be a difference between these two men or we're all part of a huge, cruel joke. >> the real steven colbert. coming up, your texts and e-mails and "morning joe" moments away. [ female announcer ] ready for a taste of what's hot? check out the latest collection of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they're this season's must-have accessory.

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